U.S. State Department says special envoy Brett McGurk resigns
Brett McGurk, the special US envoy to the coalition fighting the Daesh terror group, has resigned, a State Department official said Saturday. His resignation, effective December 31, comes just after Donald Trump abruptly ordered the withdrawal of US troops from Syria as well as the announcement that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was quitting, citing key disagreements with the US president.
- World
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 12:00 | 22 December 2018
- Modified Date: 08:23 | 22 December 2018
Brett McGurk, the special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Daesh, submitted his resignation on Friday, effective Dec. 31, a U.S. State Department official said on Saturday.
A person familiar with the matter said McGurk has quit because he objected to President Donald Trump's decision to pull out U.S. troops from Syria, a decision followed by the resignation of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis a day later.
Brett McGurk's resignation will take effect from Dec. 31. He has served the post for three years.
The envoy had originally planned to leave his post in 2019 but decided to accelerate his resignation over strong disagreements with President Donald Trump over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, CBS News reported quoting anonymous sources.
McGurk had sent in his resignation on Friday, a day after James Mattis, the former defense secretary, resigned saying his views were not aligned with the president.
Just last week McGurk, a Barack Obama appointee who Trump kept on, said "nobody is declaring a mission accomplished" in the battle against Daesh -- days before the president's stunning announcement of victory against the terrorist group.